


Lies, a Familiar Disguise

by Zebra (DQueenie13)



Series: Dragon Knights? More Like Dad Knights [1]
Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, If you haven't read Summer Siegfried's Fate Eps please do, Set after Teardrops in the Sand, They're a treasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-30 19:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DQueenie13/pseuds/Zebra
Summary: “Right now, you’re the one who can sympathize with that child the most.”Siegfried would've found it humorous how he had so much in common with a little nine-year-old girl, had it not been for what they were sharing.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Gran and Djeeta don't play a major role in this fic, I decided to make them twins that are traveling together for this fic. The fic also assumes the in-game timeline follows the order of the following events occurred in the order that they were originally released: Priestess of the Dunes > Defender's Oath > Teardrops in the Sand.

Siegfried walked in the back of the crew as they returned to the Grandcypher, just in case any of the residents of Sable Island got any funny ideas. Volenna carried Sara, sleeping quietly after the exhaustion of the past two days, and occasionally threw wary glances behind them.

A woman’s voice addressed him. “I’m sorry you saw such a… disappointing display from the island’s citizens, especially after how generous they were to you.”

Arulumaya was a Harvin fortune-teller, and one of the crew members Siegfried was better-acquainted with. The two of them were Earth-affinities, so they worked together well on the battlefield. They didn’t interact much off it, though they shared some small talk.

He joined the crew shortly before their visit to the island after coincidentally running into them, so he was unfamiliar with Sara. Nevertheless, Lyria somehow persuaded him into accompanying her on her visit; Arulumaya, who already knew Sara, also came along. She had described Sara to him as a “sweet, innocent little thing.”

She was, and that was exactly why Lord Omar, the High Priest of Sable Island, took advantage of her and used her as a scapegoat to secure his own authority.

 _“This country belongs to me,”_ Omar claimed after they had cornered him, _“and without me in charge, it would not know peace!”_

Siegfried couldn’t help a wry smile.

_Such shameless arrogance… Pathetic._

It would be humorous how he had so much in common with a little nine-year-old girl, had it not been for what they were sharing. Omar was such a reflection of Isabella, he felt disgusted even being in the man’s presence. In fact, Isabella was probably _better_ than Omar. She at least had the decency to pin the blame on him; he was already an adult and could survive by himself. Sara was a child with powers she couldn’t fully control, without self-sufficiency or emotional maturity.

Rather, she was a child with stilted emotional maturity stemming from her existence as the Priestess of the Dunes. After Sara ran away from them in the village alongside Branwen, Katalina explained how she had been raised, by Omar no less, to sacrifice her life to seal away the Primal Beast Manawydan.

Nine-year-old children should be laughing, playing with friends, and learning what life is all about. They weren’t supposed to be telling Primal Beasts to consume their souls to ease the Primal Beast’s loneliness. They weren’t supposed to have throngs of spectators hurling insults at them, calling them monsters and failures.

Arulumaya spoke again. “How sad, that one seed of corruption spreads its root so wide that its taint can only be seen by outsiders. Of course,” she added, “you would know all about that.”

“Hmm.”

His ears picked up the sound of movement behind them, and he laid a hand on the hilt of his dragonslayer sword dangerously. Throwing a glare back, he saw a few figures dart away, knowing they stood no chance against him.

Turning back to the rest of the group, he saw the vanguard had waited for him. Lyria gazed into the distance worriedly, while Katalina and Gran had their swords drawn. Sara woke up when the rhythm of Volenna’s pace stopped, but the guardian now hushed her back to sleep. When Djeeta cocked her head quizzically, Siegfried shook his head to indicate the danger had passed.

Katalina’s brows furrowed. “Suffice to say, we won’t be bringing Sara back here any time soon.”

  

* * *

 

The Grandcypher was a sight for sore eyes, and the group wasted no time in boarding. Katalina addressed the ship’s helmsman as soon as her feet touched the deck.

“Are we all restocked and ready to leave, Rackam?”

“As good as ever!”

“Good. Let’s get going then.”

He sputtered. “Uh… You mean, right now?”

“Yes. The sooner we leave, the better.”

“Er… As you say, Katalina!”

As the Grandcypher took off, a familiar blonde-haired man crossed from the other side of the deck. “You guys’re back!”

“Vane! We’re back!” Lyria high-fived him after he held up both hands in front of her.

Sara, still in Volenna’s arms, didn’t immediately respond as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. Once she recognized her surroundings, her eyes widened. “Sir Vane!”

She reached out for him with one arm, and Vane swiftly took her out of Volenna’s arms, carrying her bridal-style. Securely in his grasp, she wrapped both arms around his neck and giggled. Out of the corner of his eyes, Siegfried caught Volenna shaking out her arms when Sara wasn’t looking.

Siegfried smiled inwardly at the sight, at how _properly_ childlike the girl was in the right hands. “I didn’t know you were so familiar with her, Vane. If I did, I would’ve had you go visit her.”

Sara looked between him and Vane, causing him to realize he’d never been properly introduced to her. Vane picked up on that and spoke for him. “Sara, this is Siegfried! He’s a legendary knight from my home country! He’s super strong and cool, isn’t he?”

Those weren’t the words that Siegfried would use to describe himself, but Sara nodded eagerly, so perhaps there was truth to it… maybe. Sara loosened her grip on Vane and he gently lowered her to her feet.

_Vane’s good at reading people, isn’t he? Must be why Isabella made sure to keep him away from Lancelot, to deprive Lancelot of his support…_

Speaking of Lancelot…

“Um… Sir Vane? Where’s Sir Lancelot?”

“Oh, Lancey? He’s still captain of the Order of the White Dragons, so he didn’t want to stay away for too long. Next time, come back to Feendrache and pay him a visit!”

Sara nodded eagerly again just as her stomach audibly growled. There was a second of silence and her face flushed bright red. “U-um… I…”

“Hahaha! You remembered my food so well, you instantly got hungry just seeing me, huh?” Vane laughed it off and she giggled in response. “C’mon, let’s go down so I can make you something good, okay? Lyria, wanna join us?”

“Oh! O-of course, Vane!”

Vane gave a small wave back at Siegfried before dipping below deck. Seeing this, Sara gave a small shy wave herself before chasing after him. This took Siegfried aback, and he stared at the staircase blankly for a second.

A gruff older man’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. Eugen stood next to him, following his gaze on the staircase as Volenna and Katalina descended. “Seems like something happened on Sable Island?”

“Pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

“Katalina was sure in a rush to get out, and usually Sara’s… perkier. More energetic. Don’t usually see her getting carried around by Volenna like that.”

Silence fell between them before Eugen spoke again. “Rumors spread fast, too. I was in the village with Soriz and Jin when we overheard that Sara was the source of the Nox, and there were orders to kill her on sight.”

Siegfried bristled, earning a sympathetic nod from Eugen. “Jin was furious, of course. He’d almost hurt Sara in the past, you see, so he didn’t go and visit Sara because he didn’t want to resurface bad memories. But he was about to go and pommel some of the Holy Order soldiers himself before I managed to calm him down.”

“Sara hated the island enough to want to sink it. The Primal Beast Branwen fed off her emotions to create the Nox. So they weren’t _wrong_ , but they conveniently left out how they released Branwen themselves. I don’t know if Omar said anything to Sara, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.”

Eugen’s features softened into a weary sadness. “I’m not fond of children, but _really_? Did no one consider that starting a witch hunt against a little girl with a _god_ as a protector might be taking things too far?”

“Hmph. If anything, Omar didn’t think he went far _enough_.”

The old soldier heaved a sigh. “It’s done now. No use in festering over him… Though how this’ll affect Sara from now on is another matter.”

“Hmm.” Siegfried shifted uncomfortably.

“Something the matter?”

“…There is a _lot_ of sand in my armor.”

Eugen winced sympathetically. “I’m from the Auguste Isles. I know the feeling. Good luck,” he called out as Siegfried moved below deck to clean out his armor, “you’re gonna need it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a twitter hashtag in the Japanese fandom that basically translates to #SinkSableIsland (#サブル島沈め), which is, well, exactly what you'd expect it to be about. I wish Katalina let me leave those gossipy hen maids to perish at the hands of the Nox. It's what they deserved.
> 
> On a more serious note, I already wanted to expand on Siegfried and Sara getting acquainted before Summer Siegfried's fate episode, when Sara's side stories came out and magnified my desire to give Sara a proper father figure tenfold. _Then_ I found out that Siegfried and SSR Sara released at the same time for the Teardrops in the Sand event back in January 2015, and that sealed the deal. (If you've seen images of Siegfried with a daikon/radish, it stems from Grand Blues #217, which is set on Sable Island. This Grand Blues strip is also what Arulumaya was referencing at the beginning of the chapter.)
> 
> Fic title comes from the English version of FE Fates' Dark Song, which I listened to on repeat while writing this.


	2. Chapter 2

Later that night, Siegfried entered the mess hall, where the adult members of the crew gathered after the younger ones went to bed. He came just in time to see Volenna slam a clenched fist on the counter, rattling the wine glass next to her.

“Those filthy, disgusting _cowards_! I can’t believe I left Sara with any of those trash!”

Beads of sweat formed on Lowain’s brow. “Woah woah _woah_! Vol- _enna_! I think you got enough to drink for tonight!” She gave an agitated growl, but didn’t put up a fight when Tomoi whisked her drink away from her and replaced it with a glass of water.

Spying Vane watching the commotion with a bitter expression on his face, Siegfried approached him.

“What happened, Vane?”

It wasn’t like he even needed to ask, it just felt like the right thing to do.

“S-Siegfried! You’re not wearing your armor?!”

“Too much sand in it,” he brusquely replied.

“Ahh… Well… Volenna’s been telling us what happened on the island and all. With poor lil’ Sara being called all those nasty names by the villagers, even after she almost sacrificed her life for them…”

_“This place doesn’t deserve to exist… A country that prospers by sacrificing countless priestesses… I’d rather it be destroyed! I hate people who only think of using me!”_

Siegfried saw it with his own eyes. The pain, the agony, the betrayal.

No, it wasn’t right to say that he saw it. He _felt_ it.

He’d been in her shoes once. Framed with the death of his beloved king, with all his allies turned against him, he found himself on the run, with nobody and nothing with him aside from his trusty armor and dragonslayer sword. Days stretched into weeks, into months and into years, never settling into one place for more than a week.

The difference was that he knew who was to blame. He’d always had his suspicions about Isabella, but he wasn’t able to confirm anything before it was too late. Sara, on the other hand, had been raised to trust Omar. To her, the whole island had become her enemy. She was lost, confused, angry, betrayed; now she was in safe hands, but who was to say how this incident would continue affecting her?

The sound of sniffling came from Volenna’s direction, bringing the two knights’ attention back to her. The normally-stoic and serious guardian rubbed at an eye with the palm of her hand as Katalina rubbed her shoulder comfortingly.

“I… I… How could I have let Sara go through all that? How was I so _blind_ to what was going on?! She was… she was never even sick to begin with! Why did I think that bringing her back to Sable Island would help her?”

Eugen sighed. “You’re not to blame, Volenna. We all thought she was just homesick or something, and figured she’d recover better back on her home island. Just didn’t expect it to be filled to the brim with—well, y’know.”

Volenna sniffled again and shook her head, having run out of words to say. Just then, Siegfried noticed a shadow by the entrance to the mess hall that lingered briefly before quickly retreating. Siegfried leaned over to get a better look out of curiosity, but didn’t see anyone.

“Uh… Did something happen, Siegfried?” Vane asked as Siegfried moved to investigate.

“No, don’t worry about it. I’m not good with these situations,” he replied. “I’ll just go take a walk around the Grandcypher.”

“Oh, uh, alrighty then.” Surprise was written all over Vane’s face, but he made no move to follow as Siegfried left the mess hall in pursuit of the flickering shadow.

 

* * *

 

Siegfried’s instincts took him to the abandoned deck of the Grandcypher. Well, perhaps not completely abandoned. Soft lights flickered along the deck, the work of the primal beast and shipwright Noa. With the lights’ soft glow, he spotted Sara’s small form huddled on the floor with knees drawn to her chin, her back faced towards him and partially hidden by a mast. She wore a long-sleeved nightgown, but the material seemed thin and ill-equipped for the nippy night air atop an airship, and he could see her shivering. The sound of quiet sobs reached his ears and stopped him in his tracks. It would probably be better for him to get Volenna, or Arulumaya, or even Vane, someone who knew how to—

“Right now, you’re the one who can sympathize with that child the most.”

The quiet voice that took even Siegfried by surprise belonged to Noa. The primal beast in the form of a delicate-looking boy appeared behind him; sometimes, Siegfried wondered if Noa was capable of merging with the Grandcypher itself. Noa’s expression carried an enigmatic smile not unlike Rosetta’s: knowing but not revealing.

 _Maybe it’s a trait of some primal beasts_ , Siegfried wondered, though he remembered that Lancelot had complained long ago that his expression was always unreadable. Now that he thought about it, Lancelot made that remark to Percival during their early days under his command. It hadn’t been meant for his ears, of course, and he saw the color drain from their faces when he made his presence known. That had been so long ago, it had nearly faded from his memory. His mind was dredging up all sorts of memories he’d nearly forgotten. Why now…

“I’m not good with words. I don’t have anything to say to comfort her.”

“What that child needs right now isn’t comfort, but solidarity. Someone who understands her pain.”

Siegfried fell silent, turning his gaze from Noa to Sara, who remained oblivious to his presence. Graphos hovered over her now, probably trying to calm her down but to little effect. After all, he was a primal beast; even humanlike ones such as Noa and Rosetta had a degree of separation from them, so it was probably even harder for Graphos to reach Sara…

Realizing he’d justified himself a reason to speak to her, Siegfried gave an accusatory glare at Noa, whose smile grew just the slightest bit wider. With a defeated sigh, he warned, “I can’t promise any results.”

“Everything will be alright,” Noa reassured him, even if it did little to ease Siegfried’s mind. With a small shake of the head, he headed in Sara’s direction.

 

The sound of his footsteps snapped Sara out of her thoughts, and turned as she stood to see who approached. Her mouth was slightly agape as she struggled to recognize him, though he didn’t notice.

“It’s chilly out here, Sara. Take this,” he said as he unwound the scarf around his neck. “I don’t want you catching a cold.”

She shyly took the scarf when he held it out to her and delicately wrapped it around her shoulders like a shawl. “T-thank you… Sir… Um…”

“Ah, forgive me. You haven’t seen me without my helmet. It’s me, Siegfried.”

“Th-thank you, Sir Siegfried.”

Siegfried walked over to the taffrail and leaned his arms against it. Sara followed, though she maintained some distance behind him. Beckoning her closer with a hand, he waited until she gingerly stood next to him to speak.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

She shook her head but didn’t speak further.

_I see we’re about equals when it comes to speaking our minds…_

“…Is there something on your mind, Sara?” He received silence for an answer, so he continued, “We’re both part of this crew. Both of us have an affinity for earth, so I reckon we’ll be together quite a bit from now on. So don’t be afraid to confide in me.”

She fidgeted with her hands for a little bit. “I’ve… I’ve caused so much trouble for Gran, Djeeta, Lyria, Volenna… everybody… and you too. I… I’m sorry.”

“Hm? I’ve been through worse. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“B-but…”

“You’re safe now. That’s enough for us. I’m sure the others think the same. It’s nothing to lose sleep over.”

After musing on his words for a few seconds, Sara shakily spoke up. “Every time I close my eyes, I… I hear all of those villagers calling me cursed and evil and… and…”

“I see.”

He actually _didn’t_ , but he didn’t want Sara to dwell on the villagers any longer. As someone who’d never really cared about other people’s opinion of him, Siegfried was long numbed to the name “Kingslayer” that he’d been dubbed after Isabella’s trickery.

Back when Sylph was eaten by Fafnir, Siegfried planned on drawing out Isabella to assassinate her before slinking back into the shadows. He was prepared to become a murderer if that was what it took to cleanse Feendrache of her taint. But by chance, the Grandcypher crew visited the island just as his plan set into motion, and they stopped him from claiming her life. When he infiltrated the capital by instigating a monster attack, he exposed himself to protect Lyria. Because of that, she stood up for him when he and Lancelot were about to duel again… And then…

“Sara.” She looked up at him, eyes wide and filled with youthful innocence. “Even if it the whole world turns against you, stay true to your heart. If you do, then you’ll surely meet someone who sees you for who you really are.”

She blinked at him in confusion before gazing into the dark blue night. The two stood in silence, though Sara fidgeted around and stole glances at him. He pretended he didn’t notice.

“Um…” Sara trailed off as she lost the confidence to speak.

Siegfried decided not to push her, just giving her an indication that he was listening. “Hm?”

“Did… did the world… turn against you?”

“I suppose you could say that. My situation was a lot like yours.”

She rested her head on her arms, which were laid on the taffrail, but kept her head turned towards him. He, too, leaned on the railing to gaze over its side into the starry sky before them.

“Like… mine…?”

“Hmm. Did Vane or Lancelot ever tell you how they met the crew?”

“Umm… Sir Vane said that Gran and Lyria helped save the country. Uhh… he said some of it might be complicated, so he didn’t say much about it. Sir Lancelot didn’t like talking about it either…”

“I see.”

_So he’s still uncertain about the whole ordeal even now, isn’t he…_

“Oh! Lyria said something about an evil woman tricking everyone… There was a super-loyal knight, but she convinced everyone that he killed the… the king? So everyone blamed him for something she did…”

The corners of his mouth turned upward ever so slightly. “It seems like you know a lot of it already.”

“…Oh! You’re from the same country as Sir Vane and Sir Lancelot, right…?”

“That’s right. I’m the ‘super-loyal knight’ Lyria told you about.”

Sara took a second to process his sentence. When she did, her eyes grew even wider in shock.

“E-eh?! Aaahh… This is embarrassing,” she whimpered to herself. Graphos manifested itself and hovered over her, worrying Siegfried for a moment that the sand god was about to punch him when it disappeared on its own.

Siegfried’s gaze softened in amusement. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to see the situation from the perspective of someone who wasn’t at all involved.”

“Uh…?”

“Nevermind me. Well, the ‘evil woman’ also manipulated a primal beast to make herself look better.” Seeing that Sara’s full attention was on him, he continued explaining.

“The primal beast Sylph could create a potion called alma, which heals people and grants everlasting youth. But in order create alma, Sylph also created a deadly poison. The woman knew this, but she wanted to look young and beautiful forever, so she hid the existence of this poison. But the poison isn’t going to go away on its own, right?”

“…Mhm…” Sara nodded slowly. “So she put the poison somewhere?”

“That’s right. She had knights loyal to her dump it in a river. But people drank from that river, and villagers began dying because of it.”

“How horrible…”

“The king sent me to investigate, and I found out the truth about everything. But because of it, her power was threatened. She was the king’s advisor, you see, and if the truth was made public, she’d lose her reputation and lose her alma. Just like how Omar was afraid he would lose his power without Manawydan.”

Sara bit her trembling lip. “And… and you?”

“So in order to get rid of me, the country’s famous hero, she framed me as the king’s murderer. She was so convincing, even my two deputy captains believed I had done it. Lancelot flew into a rage every time I was even mentioned, and Percival… well… he’s gone off somewhere. Who knows where?”

“Sir Lancelot… hated you?”

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration. I could tell he was seriously trying to kill me, though he always gets too hot-headed to think clearly when he’s angry…”

Sara’s trembling voice brought him out of his thoughts. “Didn’t it hurt?”

Siegfried pondered on the question for a moment. “Well, I’ve never really cared what others thought about me, so…”

“But they hated you! They wanted you to die! You just… didn’t care?”

Tears bubbled out of her eyes as she furiously rubbed them away. Siegfried, at a loss for what to do, pulled her close awkwardly. She just barely reached his chest, reminding him how young she was. When he looked back towards the other end of the airship, Rackam flashed him two thumbs-up and Noa smiled.

_Huh?_

Siegfried wasn’t sure making a little girl cry was a good thing, but he was going to have to rely on Rackam and Noa’s judgement. He felt Sara’s small hands cling to his tunic, and lightly placed a hand on the back of her head. They stood like that for a few moments, with only the sound of Sara’s quiet sobs between them.

Deciding he should say something, he gently spoke her name. She let go of his tunic to rub at her eyes, and he bent on one knee to get closer to her eye level.

“Sara, it may be true that they hated me, but I knew they had been deceived. They were told lies so they wouldn’t trust me. They hated me because they didn’t know better. So there was no use in being upset over it.”

She shook her head. “I… I don’t get it.”

Doubtlessly, she was thinking back to the people on Sable Island, to the people who hurled hateful words at her and called her a monster. At such a tender age, it would be hard for her to filter out their words as misguided blabbering.

“That’s alright. I can’t expect you to forgive the people that hurt you just yet. But that doesn’t mean you have to hate them.” When she only fidgeted with his scarf draped over her shoulders in response, he continued. “Are the people of Sable Island here?”

She shook her head.

“Can they say anything to you?”

Another shake of the head.

“So don’t waste your energy thinking about them. They’re not worth it. Just think about all the fun times you’ll have with Volenna and Lyria and the rest, alright? I’m sure Vane would love to bake with you some time.”

Sara nodded eagerly with a smile on her face. “Sir Vane’s food is really good!”

Lancelot told him the same thing years ago, but now that Siegfried thought about it, he never tried Vane’s cooking before. Lately, most of the food was prepared by Lowain or Farrah (and once, they nearly destroyed dinner while competing), so Vane wasn’t in the kitchen much.

“If you make something good, may I join?”

“O-of course! You’re Sir Vane’s friend!”

Siegfried gave her a soft smile. “Well then, if you want energy for tomorrow, let’s get you to bed. I’m sure Volenna will get worried if she finds you’re not in your room.”

After she nodded, he ushered her towards the stairs and followed after her. As they descended the steps, they saw Volenna and Vane chatting at the bottom of the stairs, clearly waiting for them.

“Big sis Volenna!” Sara ran from Siegfried’s side to wrap her arms around Volenna.

The older woman gave a contented huff as she smoothed the top of Sara’s hair. “Rackam told me that Sir Siegfried was taking care of you. Were you unable to fall asleep?”

“Uh-huh. But I’m better now!”

“I’m glad. Let’s get back to bed then, it’s pretty late even for me.”

Just as they were about to make a bend down the hallway, Sara abruptly stopped and said something to Volenna. She scampered back to Siegfried’s side and unwound the scarf still around her shoulders before carefully folding it into a neat square.

“Thank you for lending me your scarf, Sir Siegfried!”

Siegfried smiled as he took it from her, and Vane ruffled her hair affectionately. “Sleep tight, Sara!”

“Good night!”

Sara ran back to Volenna’s side and they headed off to their shared bedroom, leaving Vane and Siegfried alone. Once Vane decided that the two were out of earshot, he shot a wide grin at Siegfried.

“…What is it, Vane?”

“Heh, I was just thinking about how you and Sara looked like father and daughter when you came downstairs together.”

“Oh? Did we? We don’t look altogether alike, do we?”

“I mean…” Vane pressed an index finger to his chin. “You guys both have that wavy hair thing going on. The color could come from an imaginary mom, I guess.”

Siegfried sighed. “You’re looking too much into it. Besides, I’d make a poor excuse of a father.”

Rackam’s voice piped up from behind, and Siegfried turned to face him. “I dunno about that. You seemed to get along pretty swimmingly with Sara back there!”

“See? You’re a total dad figure, Siegfried!”

Siegfried shook his head, but there was an unmistakable sliver of a smile on his lips. “I’m going to make sure my armor’s cleaned out.”

As Siegfried walked out of the conversation, Vane called back, “I’ll arrange a father-daughter day for you and Sara!”

“Good night.”

 

* * *

 

Unsurprisingly, there was indeed still sand in his armor, so Siegfried decided to finish cleaning it before going to sleep. As he inspected his greaves, he thought back on the conversation.

_I looked like a father, huh…_

Siegfried didn’t have anyone he really called family. Not by blood, anyways. Ever since he was a child, as far back as he could remember, he’d been going around slaying monsters. Those he bonded most with were those he fought together with. Lancelot, Percival, Vane, Gran, Djeeta… he formed his bonds with them through battle and training.

But with Sara, it was different—in fact, he couldn’t possibly bond with her the way he did with the others, since Graphos did all the fighting for her. Their bond was instead over their circumstances. It was unusual, at least for him, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

_Family… Is this what that feels like?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find it hilarious how Earth has rugged, experienced, older characters (Alethia, Vaseraga, Soriz, Eugen, Siegfried), and then there's Yaia and Sara. Someone on twitter even posted a screencap of Eugen, Sieg (in his Dragon Knights costume), and Sara in a party together and commented "they look like three generations of family."
> 
> Siegfried's musing about about not having family is from his New Years' dialogue, while the part about killing monsters for as long as he can remember is from the 2018 Dragon Knights' PASH! interview (a translation was done by [ryuuppai on tumblr](https://ryuuppai.tumblr.com/post/173458373024/gbf-the-four-knights-of-gbf-speak-their)).


End file.
